Slat link



March 19, 1957 K. T. KIEFERI SLAT LINK Filed June 14, 1954 .ZEZEfi :7:

Kuer T. K/EFEQ eadsets? new 2,785,743 SLAT LINK Kurt T. Kiefer, Chicago, 111., 'ass'ignor to Kurdo'n, Inc.,

. Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois 7 Application June 14, 1954, Se'riaI' No. 436,429

scams. or. 160-173) This "invention relates to a newand improvedslat link for vertical s'lat Venetian blinds. proves the opueiration of substantially free-hanging slats and mainly the slat-separatingthe slat-gathering movementsrequired from time to time. p a 7 Various attempts have been made'in the past to construct Vnetian'blinds with vertical, fr ee-han'ging' slats,

it being clear that such an installation is desirable because of its basic simplicity of manufacture and use and because a more perfect seal can be formed between freel'y hanging vertical slat edges than by any other Venetian blind mechanism. However difl'iculties were encountered. For instance the slats tended to swing in the wind and to become damaged as a result; or when they were somehow restrained from such swinging it became diflicult to separate and gather them rapidly and smoothly.

It is abasic object and feature of thepresent invention to provide a slat link which is improved in the foregoing respects. A particular object is to allow rapid mutual sliding telescoping movements of the links in the separating and gathering operations. Another particular object is to allow close gathering of the slats. Another particular object is to provide accurate spacing of the slats when they. are separated. Another particular object is to firmly hold the lower ends of the slats when they are separated and spaced across the window opening. A further object is to avoid the use of any bulky, unsightly or otherwise objectionable mechanism incident to the foregoing operations and features thereof. Still another object' is to insure continued smooth working in the manner indicated,'regardless of influences such asatmospheric attack, unskilled handling and the like.

These 'obje'ctshav'e beenachieved by anew slat link preferably molded from high tensile'strengtlrsynthetic addition there is provided as the, separate pivoted unit; the slat carrier vertically pivoted to the pivotunit and holding the end of the slat.

For the control of the bottom ends of the vertical slats of each of the aforementioned unitsof parts 1,2,3 and 4 is directly, pivotally connected with the corresponding slat carrier 5 which holds the bottom end' of the slat. The links formed in this manner forma teles'coping'chain which has practically full-freedom of move ment'horizontally' in the plane of the Venetian blind installation, and limited freedom of movement inother directions, as will be explained.

The link in'1- r 2,785,743 Ce Patented Mar. 19, r957 2' For the control of the top endsof the slats the units formedby parts 1", 2, 3 and 4 are desirably installed-in upper parts of slide and tilt-controlling units of mechanism whereas the slat carriers 5 are installed in lower parts of such units of mechanism. The possibility of so using the component parts of the new link in direct conjunction with one another or with acontrolmechamsm interposed is" an additional feature: and object of this in-,

I venti'on.

The details of construction and operation will be unders't'ood as the specification proceeds. In the drawing: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic front view of a small Venetian blind installation in accordance herewith, seen "from the inside of the room, with the slats partly gathered.

Figure 2 is a section taken along lines 2-2 in Figure 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged detailfrom the lower right'hand 'cornerof Figure l. Figure 4 is a view along lines 4-4 in Figure 3.2 '-Figure' 5 is a more enlarged front view of one of the slat links according to this invention, utilized as a bottom control unit.

Figure 6 is a top view of the link of Figure 5. Figure Tisan end view of the link of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a detail from the lower central part of Figure 1 when the slats have been separated to cover the entire windowop'ening and tensioned across the same.

The Venetian blind is substantially formed by a series of vertically elongated slats 10 having identical top and bottom ends 11 to 'fit the identical top and bottom slat carriers 12. For this purpose there may be formed a 16, while also allowing and properly controlling tilting of the slats aboutvertical axes. The sliding ofthe slats, that is, their extension over the Window opening or removal therefrom, is controlled by a pair of pull-cords I7 while the tilting of the slats, when extended across the windowopening, is controlled another pair of pullcords" I8. Incident to both operations the lowerends of thesla'ts are restrained and controlled by a chain. 19 of links, forin'ed of the lower slat carriers 12 and their corresponding, telescoping slidecontrol units 20.

Slat carriers 12 and slide-control units 20 .are. also installed in the'top'installation 15, at the bottom and top respectively of sliding units 21 of the top mechanism. In

the-bottom mechanism 19 the units 12 and 20 are directly in'terconiiected, for instance by a pivot pin 22 dependin}; from" theenter of the bottom :23 of each'slat carrier and journaledin 'a-pivot uni t 'or bearingza forming part dfslide 20; a V

"*Each bearing;24 forms part of a guide and stopunit 25 at one end of the corresponding slide 2%.] The body of the stinezo is-substantially formed by a oar 26 hadzontally elongated in the plane of the Venetian blind installation. Ahook 27 extends vertically, in the case of the 'bottorrl control slides upwardly, from thend of the bar 26 ppositethe guide and stop unit 25. -It is usual to make the slats 16 of Venetian. blinds approximatelylinches wide; It is therefore possible; to obtain good results b making the effective telescoping length ofeach bar Zdfor instancelexac tly Il :inches and the maximum distance;- between"slat centers' forfinstanceiexactly 1%-inc1ies. The cross-section of ea e l -that isidesiratily' steaaer aad rectangular and n'reasu'res" inch vertically and to ,5 inch horizontally.

. the guide and :stop unit 25. I

scoping slide 20; and each guideand'stop unit ZS has a similar surface 29 facing the hook 27 1 of theunit, this latter surface being formed'in a suitable wall portion 30 When the chain 1 9 -is fully extended," so that the v Venetian blind covers the window opening, allsurfaces 28 and 29. are in. contact with oneanotherand the ,sl ats are uniformly. spaced from one al10th5I With their vertical edges slightly overlapping over one anotheriwhen pthey are-tilted for shading.

Tilting of the slats, in order tojreduceor control the shading or to direct the -light in predetermined directions, is allowed by the pivots 22, 24. .The motive power for tilting is provided by'operationof the tilt cords 18,

:the energy being transmitted to the individual slats in uniform manner by a tilting mechanism forming part of the top mechanism and cooperating with eachsliding top unit 21. A desirable mechanism'for' this purpose is described in my co-pending application Serial {No. 385,118; briefly, it comprises a horizontal control rod,

tiltable about a horizontal axis by a'mechanism such as the pair of cords 18 and extending through the slidable mechanism units 21, among which there may be master slides for'the control of the gathering and separating motion and follower slides on'both sides of the Venetian blind installation. As to the tilting motion all slides of the top installation may be uniformly constructed, oriented and arranged. Each of them mayform a small vertical channel transverse of the plane of the blind, having vertically slidable therein anotherchannel member. Tilting of the horizontal tilt bar causes vertical sliding .be obtained by the horizontal tilt-control bar as mentioned.

The sliding units of mechanism 21 are desirably held in proper. downwardly facing orientation in '3. manner ,whichis also disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. 'No. 385,118, and other provisions are desirably made -as there described to insure suitable operation of the system of slats. The novel feature provided by the present invention may be identified with the new telescoping links, which take the place of the links 86 and 90'shown in the earlier. application, while the bottom restraining mechanism 39, 40, 56 57, 41 and 42 of theearlier application is entirely eliminated by the present construction. V

Because of the elimination of the bottom slide-controlling bands or cables 41, 42 of the earlier application, the present system of slats reacts to rapid sliding by the pull-cords 17 in the manner of an ordinary curtain rather than in that of the earlier Venetian blind installation. This tendency has been a source of difiiculty in earlier attempts to work with free-hanging slats, because of irregular mutual impingement between slats and connected problems. 'In the present installation'such prob- 4 ment relative mutual movement between the slats due to wind or the like is safely prevented in this condition.

Assuming now that the pull-cords 17 are operated to extend the Venetian blind across the window opening, this operation starts by causing a first top mechanism unit 21 to move towards the center. When it has moved a predetermined distance the connected hook 27 engages a second top mechanism 21, and so on, so that the top carriers 12 are started across the window one after the other. If this is done rapidly inertia will cause a slower following of the lower ends, so that temporarily someor all of the slatsand mainlythe leading ones will ,be slightly inclined in an approximate A shape in the plane of the window. On theiopposite or'gathering stroke, correspondingly-anapproximate V shape may tend to be formed. V

In order to allow such temporary inclination'of slats, without binding of the telescoping slides 20, the guide and stop unit 25 ,of each slide 'has' a channel 31 for the 20 .openiat the top.v Thus itis1possible for the correspond suitable dies their surfaces can be made sufliciently smooth,

and resistant to atmospheric attack and the like, to insure very free and easy telescoping or sliding in the motions described and'suggested; likewise the operation of the telescoping slides themselves and of the slats connected therewith by the carriers 12 can be kept substantially, noiseless and satisfactory in the. various other respects which are known to the art and which were problematic in earlier'installations. V V

When the slat installation 10, etc. has been extended .across the window planeit is again desirable to avoid any substantial swinging of slats due to wind or the like. To

a large extent this .is achievedalready by the interaction between the bars 26 and the channels 31.engaging the same. However, the links are desirably andnecessarily small and flexible, and additional protection is desirable against substantial wind action. Therefore I prefer to use special inner and outer end links asshown respectively ,at;3 5 and 36. The inner end link, 35 serves to interconnect the two innermost slat control bars'26 whereas a pair of outer 1 11 n s36 serves toanchor theoutermost slats to the window frame 3,7. For. thislatter purpose an L -shaped bracket 38 is secured to a lower partzofeach .vertical part or stile of the Window frame withahori vzontal bracket extending therefrom in a' direction parallel.

with the window." An; outermostguide, and. stop unit, with a bearing for the outermost slat carrier 12 thereon. is

jdirectlytswiveledto' the underside ofthe bracket 38,; and

is connected with an outermost bar 40, having flhOCk 27, by a, 'setiscrew 41. The expedient of sqbuilding upthe outermost link 36 from a separate bar and hookunit 40,

27 'andguide and bearing unit 39 has theadvantagethat thej slat installation canbe adaptedzto various window dimensions more readily than otherwise; in other words the overlap between the slat edges 'can be made nonlems are avoided and intact the performanceofthe'slat's is smoother than in those cases'where attempts were made topositi'vely control the motion-of the bottom endsn r r l For instance it may be considered that-initially,tbothhalves of the Venetian blind installation'are gathered on standa'rdat this point; Jointly,*the end -links 35fand serve toform a taut chain 19 across the window opening 7 when the inner end links 35, have been interconnected in any suitable manner, as by snap action or the' like." The chain of links 20; 12 is then stretched from one'bracket, 38 to'th'efiother with suflicient 'tightnessto hold; the slats safely even againstastrong wind. :7 v V l This' stretching, without disturbance of accurate slat spacing and-without cumbersome spring mechanism or the e,'is greatly facilitated the use of plastic'spacer bars 26, as described, which are slender and somewhatjstretch? able due to'the horizontal narrowness of theircross-secslides20 are formed of high ten vsile strength synthetic resin such as nylon, by molding in tional areas. At the same time these bars have proper resistance against compressive loads and bending loads in vertical planes, as required in the slat-gathering movements; this resistance being provided by the relative, vertical width of the cross-sectional areas of the bars. Mere wires as slat spacers, which have been tried, have been found much less satisfactory. They and their corresponding guide units became either too wide to allow close and compact gathering of slats and resilient stretching of the link chain across the window, or too thin to provide resistance against kinking and the like. The new bars and slat links avoid all of those defects.

The new links are also easy and cheap to make, by wellknown plastic molding procedures. No machining or the like is required to make them ready for installation and use. They can be standardized completely as to size, design, material, color, etc.

The installation of the new links, with their slat carriers and slats, is equally simple. The process may start with the simple and obvious installation of a first link carrier and slat, adjacent the lower part of the window frame. The hook 27 of this first link is oriented so as to point approximately horizontally toward the inner part of the window plane. A second link unit is then connected with the first as follows. The second bar is held parallel to the window plane, with the hook so oriented as to point toward an inner, upper part of the plane. In such position, the channel of the second guide unit can easily be slipped over the hook of the first link; this being facilitated by making the lower corner or end portion 26-A of the bar, below the hook, in rounded form. The second link is then brought into approximately horizontal position as required for actual use, whereupon the connection between the first hook and the second channel cannot be resolved any more, due to engagement of the stop surfaces 28, 29. The second slat is then inserted in the second slat carrier, and successive links are added in the same manner. The procedure is substantially similar at the top.

Removal and replacement of any slat, for repair or the like, is similarly easy. Because of the high flexibility of the link chain 19 in a vertical plane, slat links adjacent the slat to be removed can be manipulated so that the slat to be removed or replaced can he slipped from or into the corresponding slat carrier, without bending and kinking of the slat.

In the practical, daily use, where the Venetian blind may be opened or closed by either slow or rapid manipulation of the pull-cords 17, the link chains 19 are extended or collapsed smoothly and uniformly, link by When the chain has been extended the slats can be tilted as desired; when tilted parallel to the window plane they effect a practically perfect light seal, due to the absence of any end support or intermediate support that could disturb the strictly vertical orientation and straight form of the slat edges. While the slat edges when so tilted for a full light seal are in close contact with one another, rattling due to wind is effectively counteracted by the link chain 19, restraining adjacent pairs of slat ends from movement relative to one another.

Various modifications can be applied to the mechanism described, as will be obvious to persons skilled in the art upon study hereof.

I claim:

1. A one-piece slat link for connecting an end of each slat of a vertical Venetian blind with an end of another slat, comprising a single straight bar as long as the slats are to be spaced when the blind is fully extended, said bar being adapted to be confined to the vertical plane of the blind, the entire bar being rigid in such plane and re siliently flexible across such plane; a vertically projecting hook at one end of the bar; a guide and stop unit at the opposite end of the bar, having a guide channel area matching the cross section ofa similar bar, to allow sliding of the bars relative to one another in said plane only, and adapted to stop such sliding at predetermined end points; and a pivot unit on the guide and stop unit, having a vertical axis for pivoting thereon a slat carrier; said bar, hook, guide and stop unit and pivot unit being formed of slightly resilient material, integrally with one another.

2. A slat link as described in claim 1 wherein the guide channel area of the guide and stop unit is shaped so as to allow substantial flexing of one link relative to the next in said vertical plane, without separation of the links incident to such flexing.

3. A slat link as described in claim 2 wherein the bar, adjacent the hook, has an end portion so rounded as to facilitate interconnection and separation of links, upon still further flexing of one link relative to the next in said vertical plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

